Hello All!
It’s hard to believe as I jot this note to you that 10% of the year is about over. Fortunately, the other 90% remains for us to make this 45th year of OC Human Relations its best ever. We begin our 45th journey amidst a challenging mood in our country that seems to embrace fear, anger, distrust and yes, in some cases outright hate.
Nelson Mandela wrote, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Some days I would be tempted to accept peaceful co-existence, but that is a temptation that must never be accepted.
Love at its basest level is a simple caring for others as you would like to be cared about and for. It is a simple respect for another’s person and being, it is a simple honoring of the uniqueness of each and every one of us which makes each and every one of us of inestimable value.
Fortunately for us, we work with a staff at OC Human Relations that understands this, that lives it, and has designed programs to address this very issue. The ball, so to speak, is now in our court to provide the support that is needed for them to do their much-needed task for Orange County to be a safe and secure place for all to live, work, go to school and do business. I invite all of us, as we work together, to think inside and outside the box, to find ways to fund what all of us so deeply believe in.
– Jim Lehmann, Community Partner and long-time friend of OC Human Relations
